About a boy

Thatboy has the biggest sweet tooth and because of the season, it's easy to indulge him. For the Jewish New Year we all dip apples in honey, a reminder of the sweet year to come. Well I see your apples and honey, and raise you... in a big way. I want to wish all my readers a sweet 2009, and before that ball drops and we all swear off anything with sugar for at least a week, I leave you with some of my sweetest recipes. And they're not all unhealthy! Some have some real redeeming qualities.

Please stay safe tonight everyone! And, of course, Happy New Year!

4 Ingredient Peach Cobbler
Thatboy says this is the best peach cobbler he's ever had in his life. It makes me feel a little like Sandra Lee, but after a bite or two, I don't even care. Besides, it's hard to get fresh peaches in December!

• 2 cans sliced peaches in juice
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans
  

1. Preheat oven to 350. Pour peaches and juice in bottom of baking dish.
2. Sprinkle cake mix over peaches.
3. Cut butter into small pieces and dot over cake mix.
4. Sprinkle pecans on top. Bake for 45 minutes.

Strawberry Surprise Pie
Some people call pies and cakes made with Jello "mirror" cakes because of the shiny surface. I prefer to call this one a surprise because of the secret hiding below the surface - bananas. Sure you could leave them out, but then you'd have no surprise! The addition of cottage cheese helps make this a pie that's not only sweet, but kinda good for you - maybe even breakfast food!

• 1/2 packet of strawberry jello
• 2/3 cup boiling water
• 12 ice cubes
• 8 oz cottage cheese
• 1 banana, sliced
• premade graham cracker crust (I know, totally cheating, right?)

1. Dissolve strawberry jello in boiling water and stir for three minutes.
2. Add ice cubes and stir for 2 more minutes, removing any ice cubes that don't melt.
3. Stir in cottage cheese until well blended.
4. Make layer of bananas on bottom of crust.
5. Spoon strawberry mixture over bananas. Refrigerate one hour.
   

Steamed Apples
I can't get away from giving you one sweet apple dish, and this is one of my favorites. Although usually baked apples are made in the oven, it's just as easy to make them stovetop. It's the perfect winter treat!

• 2 apples
• sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp butter
• cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
  

1. Core apples, but not all the way through so that there is a cavity in each apple.
2. Fill this cavity with sugar.
3. Place 1/4 Tbsp butter on top of each filled cavity and sprinkle cinnamon over top.
4. In a saucepan place water and bring to a boil. Lower to simmer and place apples in water. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.

Lemon Pie

• 1 box lemon sugar free jello
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• ice cubes
• 1 cup cool whip
• pie crust - baked and cooled
  

1. In a large bowl, combine boiling water and jello and stir 2 minutes.
2. Add ice cubes, 1 at a time, stirring until dissolved for another 2 minutes.
3. Stir in cool whip until blended and smooth. Pour into pie crust. Refrigerate overnight.